Huynh v. Jabil Inc.

District Court, N.D. California·Decided February 7, 2023·No. 3:22-cv-07460·Unknown

Opinion

STRONG HUYNH, Case No. 22-cv-07460-WHO Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND v. DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS OR STRIKE Re: Dkt. No. 24 Defendant. Defendant Jabil, Inc. moves to dismiss plaintiff Strong Huynh’s wage-and-hour causes of action and Huynh’s derivative unlawful business practices cause of action for failure to state plausible claims to relief. Jabil also moves to strike Huynh’s class allegations. As explained below, most of Huynh’s claims are plausibly alleged. Jabil’s motion is granted in limited part, dismissing Huynh’s claims under California Labor Code sections 204, 206 and 1174, as well as Huynh’s claim for injunctive relief under the California Unfair Competition Law. It is otherwise Defendant Jabil Inc., is a business entity incorporated in Delaware, with its principal place of business in St. Petersburg, Florida. See Notice of Removal (“Not.”) [Dkt. No. 1-1] ¶¶ 19, 21- 22. Jabil is alleged to be a “manufacturing service provider for clients throughout California.” First Amended Class Action Complaint (“FAC”) [Dkt. No. 22-1] ¶ 8. Plaintiff Strong Huynh states that he and other putative class members all were or are hourly-paid non-exempt employees of Jabil. Id. ¶¶ 6, 7. Huynh was employed in California by Jabil from approximately 2019 through October 2021. Id. ¶¶ 6, 25. employees all wages for all hours worked; (2) causing missed meal periods; (3) causing missed rest breaks; (4) failing to provide all wages due upon discharge; (5) failing to provide itemized wage statements and maintain accurate payroll records; and (6) failing to indemnify employees for necessary business expenses, including cell phone expenses. Id. ¶¶ 42, 46, 54, 57, 65, 66, 69, 72. In support of these claims, Huynh alleges that: • Jabil required employees to perform work while clocked out for meal and rest breaks. For example, Huynh alleges that he was required to respond to his supervisor and manager while clocked out on his breaks. Id. ¶¶ 16, 20, 42, 46, 49, 54. • Jabil failed to include non-discretionary bonuses and incentive compensation when calculating employees’ regular rate of pay. For example, Huynh identifies specific wage statements from November 2020 that show how Jabil failed to include his shift premium in his regular rate of pay. Id. ¶¶ 17, 42. • Jabil had a policy and practice of failing to provide second or third meal or rest breaks where required, which happened to Huynh regularly. Id. ¶¶ 20, 21, 42. • Huynh and class members’ inability to take the number of uninterrupted meal or rest periods to which they were entitled was in part the result of Jabil’s policy of understaffing. Id. ¶¶ 20, 54. As a result of these failures, Huynh alleges that Jabil also failed to provide accurate, itemized wage statements and failed to provide all wages due upon discharge. FAC ¶¶ 22, 23, 57, 66. He also contends that Jabil required him and other employees to use their personal cell phones to perform required job duties, including requiring Huynh to provide updates “regarding machines and scheduling” via his cellphone, but Jabil failed to reimburse Huynh and other employees for those expenses. Id. ¶¶ 24, 72. Finally, Huynh states that his claims are typical of the claims of the absent class members, resulting from the same policies and practices. Id. ¶ 31. Huynh filed his complaint in the Superior Court for Alameda County on behalf of himself and a putative class of “all individuals who worked for Jabil in a California location as a non- (4) years prior to the filing of Plaintiff’s initial complaint in this action through judgment.” Id. ¶¶ 1, 26. The Complaint asserts seven Causes of Action: (1) Failure to Pay All Wages (under California Labor Code §§ 204, 206, 510, 1182.12, 1194, 1194.2, 1197, 1197.1, and 1198); (2) Failure to Provide Meal Periods or Compensation in Lieu Thereof (under California Labor Code §§ 226.7 and 512); (3) Failure to Provide Rest Periods or Compensation in Lieu Thereof (under California Labor Code § 226.7); (4) Failure to Pay Wages of Terminated or Resigned Employees (under California Labor Code §§ 201, 202, and 203); (5) Failure to Issue Itemized Wage Statements and Maintain Records (under California Labor Code §§ 226, 226.3, 1174, and 1174.5); (6) Indemnification for Expenditures or Losses in Discharge of Duties (under California Labor Code § 2802); and (7) Unfair/Unlawful Business Practices (under the California Business and Professions Code § 17200 et seq.). Id. at 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19. Jabil removed the case to the Northern District of California, under the Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1332(d). After removal, Huynh filed a First Amended Class Action Complaint (“FAC”), reasserting the same seven causes of action but adding additional facts regarding his employment. Jabil now moves to dismiss all claims as insufficiently pleaded and strike the class action allegations. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“FRCP”) 12(b)(6), a district court must dismiss a complaint if it fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, plaintiff must allege “enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” See Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). A claim is facially plausible when plaintiff pleads facts that “allow the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (citation omitted). There must be “more than a sheer possibility that a defendant has acted unlawfully.” Id. While courts do not require “heightened fact pleading of specifics,” a plaintiff must allege facts sufficient to “raise a right to relief above the speculative level.” See Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 570. This inquiry is “a context-specific task that requires the reviewing court to In deciding whether plaintiff has stated a claim upon which relief can be granted, the Court accepts plaintiff's allegations as true and draws all reasonable inferences in favor of plaintiff. See Usher v. City of Los Angeles, 828 F.2d 556, 561 (9th Cir. 1987). Yet, the court is not required to accept as true “allegations that are merely conclusory, unwarranted deductions of fact, or unreasonable inferences.” See In re Gilead Scis. Sec. Litig., 536 F.3d 1049, 1055 (9th Cir. 2008). If the court dismisses the complaint, it “should grant leave to amend even if no request to amend the pleading was made, unless it determines that the pleading could not possibly be cured by the allegation of other facts.” See Lopez v. Smith, 203 F.3d 1122, 1127 (9th Cir. 2000). In making this determination, the court should consider factors such as “the presence or absence of undue delay, bad faith, dilatory motive, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by previous amendments, undue prejudice to the opposing party and futility of the proposed amendment.” See Moore v. Kayport Package Express, 885 F.2d 531, 538 (9th Cir. 1989). Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(f), a court may strike from a pleading “any redundant, immaterial, impertinent, or scandalous matter.” An immaterial matter is one “which has no essential or important relationship to the claim for relief or the d

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Huynh v. Jabil Inc., (N.D. Cal. 2023).

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